Let The Right One In

Thank god vampires are finally gaining relevance again. I’m not talking about Twilight of course, that movie is just another attempt to domesticate bloodsuckers for the Harry Potter crowd while teaching the values of abstinence. What I’m referring to is the Swedish movie Let The Right One In, a return to the moral ambiguity, superstition, violence and inhumanity that vampire stories have traditionally benefited from.

Don’t let the young cast fool you, there is no escapist fantasy to be found in the story of Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) confronting his bullies and Eli the vampire (Lina Leandersson) finding a new friend.

This movie feels more like Guillermo Del Toro’s “child’s eye view” works like Pans Labyrinth and Devils Backbone in that it shows how terrible the world of a child can be, and then he heaps a big sack of violent horror on top of that. And maybe I am masochistic, but I appreciate not having things softened because there are kids on set. One example of this is Hakan (Per Ragnar), Eli’s servant who looks like a middle aged pedophile and whose duties are part butler, part blood collecting serial killer. In an early scene you get to watch Hakan carefully prepare and execute a murder, only to be interrupted in the process of draining blood from the strung up body. The camera follows these actions dutifully and without judgment, at no moment does the music or cinematic style indicate that something bad is happening. In that sense I love the almost documentary feel of this film, too many horror movies are too self conscious of how disgusting, silly or serious they are. Let The Right One In never pays much attention to establishing its genre, instead it moves from funny to scary to sweet as though there where no borders at all.

Also it is notable that it is a very small vampire story, much like Ginger Snaps is a very small werewolf film. Don’t expect a huge undead epidemic, heroic vampire hunters, big fight scenes or melodramatic speeches about eternal love. It is always entertaining but it is also very well grounded with humble special effects and perfectly believable consequences to the characters actions. Still I might be underplaying the films sentimentality in this review, and that would be criminal for me to do.

Let The Right One In has some interesting meditations on friendship, love, family and obligation that are as sweet as they are transgressive. Oskars parents are distant but caring. Eli the vampire next door is naturally selfish and inhuman, so her occasional displays of empathy and kindness are quite moving. Even the bullies and victims in this movie have another dimension to their characters that forces you to think of them as people rather than props.  

Some part of me is a little dismayed at the fact that this movie has been toe tagged for an inevitable remake, and not because I would be offended if they made it into a kids movie or a balls out horror film. The reason I am worried is because Let The Right One In is balanced on an atomic level, even re-cutting it would change the tone and feel significantly. I know that it has become cliché for a critic to beg audiences to learn how to read subtitles and telling them that remakes are always bad can be dishonest. What we should do is point out when something is irreproducible, that in waiting for it to be re-cast with American teens you will be missing out on something as unique and miraculous as a snowflake. Ok, a snowflake drenched in blood, pathos, and sexual ambiguity, but a beautiful one none the less.